Recruiting & Hiring Blog for HR Professionals

It costs the average company $4,000 to hire a new employee, and that’s not including the additional costs that can result from a bad hire. A poor fit and exaggerated value can land your company in a world of financial hurt.

Ask any business owner why they do what they do and most will tell you it’s because they have a passion for it. They have a passion for the industry, the product, or may even be driven by a passion to do something that is entirely theirs. People buy into a franchise network for the same reason, but have the added benefit of established brand recognition, a support network of owners that have experienced exactly what you are going through, and a head start on more necessary (but vital) aspects of the business, like marketing materials, best practices, etc.

Workplace culture isn't guaranteed when you start, buy, or take over a company. It doesn’t exist solely in high-tech companies, or only in exotic locations. The fact is that building a solid office culture needs to be intentional and requires a lot of work from the company leaders. It’s a mindset that will resonate with employees when they watch their leaders lead by example. Happy leaders make happy employees. Happy employees are the first step to creating thought-leadership, industry altering innovation, and attraction of the most elite employees in any field. Need proof? Here are 7 hard facts you should know about employee happiness and how their satisfaction impacts your business.

In a recent study by the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), HR professionals were asked what their biggest challenges would be over the next decade. Half (51%) indicated that it will be obtaining human capital. This trend is likely to be a more immediate concern for companies as they look ahead to 2016. These four factors are contributing to recruiting challenges this year:

HR professionals have their hands full, as they strive to meet their organizations’ talent management needs. Recruiting, hiring, onboarding, and employee retention are all major issues as companies maintain profitable operations and seek competitive advantages. Despite these challenges, HR teams can’t take a myopic view of the world. In 2015, several HR topics made news throughout the year. It appears that many of these issues will continue to be top of mind in 2016, as well.

In years past, when companies had a hard time finding qualified employees, their options were limited. However, thanks to technology, today it’s possible for people to work almost anywhere. In fact, research shows 3.1 million professionals work full-time from home.

As the economy recovers, experts believe skills shortages are going to become an increasingly large problem for employers. One of Bersin by Deloitte’s predictions for 2014 is people with key skills, especially in technical fields, will be hard to find. As a result, it will be necessary for organizations to look farther afield for talent and develop a team of virtual employees.

Studies indicate companies are more optimistic about hiring this year, but a shortage of talent could make it difficult to fulfill that optimism. In 2013, 39 percent of U.S. employers had difficulty filling jobs, according to the ManpowerGroup 2013 Talent Shortage Survey. The most difficult-to-fill jobs consisted of skilled trades, engineers and sales representative positions. The biggest reasons attributed to the shortage were a lack of specific technical skills, experience and qualifications required for a particular role in addition to a lack of applicants.